Teachers of the year named by county school board

Five teachers were named as the Tuscaloosa County School System's Teacher of the Year on Monday at an awards ceremony held at Hillcrest High School.

By Jamon SmithStaff Writer

Five teachers were named as the Tuscaloosa County School System's Teacher of the Year on Monday at an awards ceremony held at Hillcrest High School.The winners were selected from more than 34 nominees. They will vie with other Alabama teachers in the Jacksonville State University Hall of Fame and the Alabama Teacher of the Year competitions.The winners moving on to Jacksonville State University Hall of Fame competition are Kim Osborn of Huntington Place Elementary, Leslie Welker of Hillcrest Middle and Ann-Marie Peirano of Hillcrest High. The Alabama State Teacher of the Year competitors are Lisa Burgess of Westwood Elementary and Chasidy White of Brookwood Middle.Tuscaloosa County Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Swinford said she's proud of the winners and all the nominees.“I feel really good about the candidates that we recognized today,” Swinford said. “All of them are very talented teachers. When you look at the work that they do inside the classrooms, outside of their classrooms, they're very engaged with their students and the families.“So we're very impressed with the candidates. It was a very difficult task. I feel sorry for all those that had to judge that and select one winner at each level.”The Jacksonville State University Hall of Fame and the Alabama Teacher of the Year competitions were created to honor public school teachers in Alabama.The winner of the Alabama Teacher of the Year competition represents the state in the National Teacher of the Year competition.In other news:n Swinford announced that the Tuscaloosa County School System will not have to make up school days missed on Jan. 29-31 because of weather. She said the Alabama Department of Education has not let her know yet whether students will have to make up school missed on Feb. 11.n The Tuscaloosa County School System will hold three community meetings to explain its new strategic plan to the public. The first meeting will be today at Echols Middle from 6-7 p.m. The second meeting will be March 11 at Davis-Emerson Middle from 6-7 p.m., and the third meeting will be March 13 at Big Sandy Elementary from 6-7 p.m.